Clever Fan Theory Connects 'Captain Marvel' to Spider-Man's MCU Debut

Captain Marvel won't be making her Marvel Cinematic Universe until early next year, but what if one of the Avengers already knows of her existence in the skies above?

According to a clever new MCU fan theory, Tony Stark may be aware of the tale of Captain Marvel, or at least, the war that she was involved in back in the 1990s. The evidence presented in the theory simply points back to one casual line in Peter Parker's MCU debut, Captain America: Civil War.

A Reddit user named CaptainDeadpool172 took to the Fan Theories subreddit on Thursday, with a potential Captain Marvel reference hidden in the first conversation between Tony Stark and Peter Parker. In Civil War, when Tony first approaches Peter about joining him in the fight against Captain America, the young hero tries to deny that he's Spider-Man. This causes Tony to show a video of Spider-Man saving people, and Peter quickly says that all of the videos are "fake."

Tony responds by saying, "Like UFOs over Phoenix," alluding to the fact that the phenomenon known as the Phoenix Lights was actually real, not a hoax or an illusion. This is where the theory brings Captain Marvel into the fold.

The Phoenix Lights appeared in March 1997, and Captain Marvel takes place sometime in the 1990s. The theory suggests that the lights over Phoenix were a result of the Kree-Skrull War, which will be depicted in the Captain Marvel movie. That's pretty specific, but you can make the theory a bit broader and it will still make plenty of sense. The lights could have been Carol Danvers flying over Earth to protect it. They could have also been the Skrulls attempting to land on Earth.

Either way, the point is that the Phoenix Lights exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Tony Stark knows that they were real. He probably doesn't know exactly who Captain Marvel is, or her relation to Earth and Nick Fury, otherwise he would've tried to recruit her to fight against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. However, it's reasonable to think that he could have been told at least part of the story, and he's aware that there is something else out there that isn't trying to harm the people of Earth.

What do you think of this new theory? Could Captain Marvel have actually been responsible for the Phoenix Lights? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson, is set to hit theaters on March 8, 2019.